Forget urine tests, Maryland parents use dogs to sniff out drugs

A new service in Maryland offers parents a chance to rent a drug-sniffing dog.

While the service is targeting parents who suspect their children are using, Dogs Finding Drugs offers its services to businesses and schools.

Got about $200 an hour, then you too can have a drug-sniffing dog search for marijuana, heroin, cocaine, meth and prescription drugs. Oh, they can find firearms and explosives too.

| Bob Cronkleton

 

Woman, 76, accused of being drug mule

Authorities stopped a 76-year-old woman at a pedestrian gate in Nogales, Ariz., as she entered the United States from Mexico for a day of shopping.

A border officer became suspicious and upon further inspection discovered the woman had strapped nearly three pounds of cocaine to her legs.

Hat tip to eephus

| Bob Cronkleton

Volunteer finds bag full of pot floating in river

A volunteer helping clean-up the the Shawsheen River in Lawrence, Mass., on Monday pulled a trash bag containing about two pounds of marijuana from the river.

Police said it appeared to be low-grade, homegrown  marijuana that was still drying inside the garbage bag. Estimated street value: about $2,400.

| Bob Cronkleton

Authorities seize 105 tons of pot

It's said to be the largest bust in years in Tijuana. Along with 10,000 packages of marijuana, police seized trailers, trucks and two large fire arms.

Large-scale marijuana-growing operations on rise in Kansas, Midwest

The number of outdoor marijuana operations is turning up more frequently in Kansas and the Midwest as part of what authorities say is a move by organized crime to the region.

Federal stats show the number of such operations found in the region has in some cases doubled over the last few years.

Rod Page, a special agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, told The Hutchinson News: 

“They’re looking for backwoods areas where they think they won’t be caught.”

| Bob Cronkleton

Two great tastes that taste great together

At her Crime Scene blog, Kathee Baird writes about a man who pleaded guilty to possessing Oxycontin inside a jar of peanut butter. "You got peanut butter in my Oxycontin!" "You got Oxycontin in my peanut butter!"

Tooth Fairy implicated in drug deal

In Port St. Lucie, Fla., police have arrested a woman who allegedly sold $440 worth of oxycodone to an undercover officer. When they took her in, they found $1,300 on her person.

“The tooth fairy gave it to her” was Hudson’s explanation of how she got the $1,300, Fonteyn said.

And now you know where the Tooth Fairy gets all of those quarters that she leaves under children's pillows.

Report: Cocaine mistaken for breath mint during Lohan arrest

Wonder why Lindsay Lohan was able to cut a plea deal so quickly during her 2007 DUI case? It appears the arresting officer mistook the cocaine in her alleged possession for a breath mint and threw it in the trash, KTLA reports.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

File photo via AP

Should workers be fired for using medical marijuana?

A Michigan man is suing Wal-Mart for firing him after he tested positive for pot -- which he's allowed to use under the state's medical-marijuana law. (He has an inoperable brain tumor.) He says that he never used the drug at work, only at home at night. The company learned about his drug use after he got hurt at work and went to the doctor, where he was tested.

Baby's First Bong

What? Babies aren't supposed to play with bongs?

Hat Tip: Many thanks, cripjak!

Guilty verdict in Kansas pill case

From wire services: A federal jury has found a Kansas doctor and his wife guilty of conspiring to profit from illegally prescribing painkillers to dozens of patients who later died.

Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, were convicted today of a moneymaking conspiracy prosecutors say was linked to 68 overdose deaths. They're directly charged in 21 of the deaths.

Prosecutors say the Schneiders carelessly wrote prescriptions for potent, addictive painkillers to people with severe pain but also to drug abusers who feigned symptoms.

Nope, coke smugglers haven't thought of everything yet

This time it was powdered soup packets. And no, the smuggler did not succeed.

| Sara Shepherd

Hat tip: Thanks again, cripjak!

Clay County rounds up deadbeat dads

From Glenn E. Rice:

It's Father's Day weekend, so Clay County law enforcement officers conducted a warrant sweep looking for men who are accused of being deadbeat dads.

Authorities expected to serve 64 warrants in an effort to round up persons charged with child support violations and those accused of selling illegal drugs.

| Bob Cronkleton

Sorry, you are not a winner

In Gary, Indiana, police arrested a man for dealing crack -- and they seized the $2,260 winning lottery ticket in his pocket, too.

Hat Tip: Saw this via Fark!

Nope, nothing suspicious here

A woman was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, after she was caught flying with 13 suitcases filled with 500-plus pounds of marijuana, police allege.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, cripjak!

The Salina Connection

I'm just trying to picture the movie version of this story: DEA agents found more than 300 pounds of coke on a plane that had stopped to refuel in Salina, Kan., in December 2002. Authorities tried to lure the man who chartered the flight, Kevin X. Frater, to Salina by coming up with a story about the plane having broken down with mechanical problems. Instead, Frater fled the country, spending time in Cuba, Jamaica, the U.A.E. and England, which is where he was caught. He was finally extradited in 2009 and has just been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney for Kansas reports.

Where there's smoke ... there might be some marijuana

In Madison, Wis., police arrested three teenagers after marijuana smoke was seen "billowing" from their car, the Capital Times reports.

Meth dealer caught mid-snooze

From Joe Lambe: Sometimes you snooze, you lose — just ask meth dealer Kevin Johnson. A federal judge in Kansas recently sentenced him to 20 years for drug trafficking after he was caught in Atchison sleeping in his car, which also contained almost half a pound of meth.

The drug was divided into plastic baggies ready for sale. Johnson, now 61, was arrested Sept. 17, 2009, and later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Woman admits to growing marijuana in her driveway, police say

Some marijuana growers go to great lengths to hide their operations -- building secret rooms, boobytrapping their sites, even constructing giant underground lairs with escape routes. Others, though, are not as discreet.

In Memphis, a 65-year-old woman has gotten busted for growing marijuana in her driveway, the Commercial Appeal reports. Police noticed the plants -- which were in pots -- during another call.

When Helen J. Franklin answered the door, officers asked her if she knew what the potted plants were, according to the document.

“Yes, reefer. I planted it,” she replied.

Points for honesty, ma'am. Points for honesty.

23 indictments in local crack ring

The U.S. Attorney for Western Missouri has just announced 23 indictments against several Kansas City men, plus defendants from KCK, St. Louis and Raytown, in an alleged crack and cocaine ring. One those named is John Hooker, who, with his brother, was found dead in a shopping cart near 45th and Askew back in May.

Report: Meth is easily available in U.S.

You might have already guessed this, but meth is widely available in the U.S. and only getting more prevalent, the federal government says in a new report. That study hasn't been released yet, though, because the feds are worried about agitating the Mexican government, the New York Times writes today. The report says that Mexico is a big part of our meth problem.

Study: Pot use has 'little effect' on driving skills

A Connecticut hospital used a driving simulator to test people who had just smoked marijuana and found using the drug had "little effect" on their skills, the Hartford Courant reports. The researchers do NOT say it's a good idea to smoke the drug and drive, though. Their subjects were much more likely to get distracted, which is a leading factor in wrecks. The story notes that NHTSA says pot use diminishes driving skills.

Radio station alerts listeners to raids

In Humboldt County, Calif., KMUD-FM broadcasts alerts whenever the police appear to go on drug raids, NPR reports. It's something the community radio station has been doing for several years, but law-enforcement officials say they want it to stop. (Humboldt County is in northern Cali, which is a big pot-producing region.) There are more raids now, and the sheriff is seeing more illegal, armed dealers, so he's worried the reports could lead to officers getting hurt.

The station says it doesn't plan to stop the alerts. The station notes that it doesn't broadcast the whole operation, and argues the reports are an important part of protecting listeners' civil liberties.

Anti-meth law is working ... sort of

Poplar Bluff, Sikeston and several other towns have passed laws requiring prescriptions for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine -- a key ingredient in meth. The hope was the new rules would help slow production of meth. Instead, it looks like the bad guys are just driving to Cape Girardeau to get their supplies, the Southeast Missourian reports. Police there had a sting at Wal-Mart and Walgreens and caught a lot of people -- none of them residents of that county.

Several law-enforcement officials would like to see a statewide law like the ones in Poplar Bluff and other towns. They say Oregon experienced a big drop in meth labs as a result. The medicine industry, you can imagine, is less enthusiastic.

4 years for cop who stole, sold drugs

Kyle Zumbrunn, a former Weston policeman, has been given four years for stealing Oxycodone, morphine and other pills from the department's evidence room, Platte County prosecutors say. The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to selling to an undercover investigator.